One More Light
by daily-chan
Summary: As Regulus sets out to destroy the Locket, he takes a different course of action, changing everything.
1. Chapter 1

One More Light

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters. However, since Rowling discarded my favourite characters I picked them up and took them into my care to give them the love and attention they deserve...and occasionally give them reason to need that love and attention no matter how much they deserve it without needing a reason._

 _Summary: As Regulus sets out to destroy the Locket, he takes a different course of action, changing everything._

 _Warnings:_ _Strong bromance between James and Sirius, can't stomach boys being extremely close without it being sexual, then none of my stories are for you and you should hit the return button to find other stories to read._

 _Character deaths; though none of our boys._

 _A/N:_

 _I wrote a specific scene of this story while listening to the song 'One More Light' by Linkin Park on repeat shortly after lead singer Chester committed suicide. If you don't know it, then I would recommend it to you as it is a beautiful song and the title for this story was inspired by it._

 _Special thanks to Kitty for everything. You are always teaching me new things and are a merlin send when it comes to grammar (and pretty much everything else) You're the best!_

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" _To the Dark Lord. I know I will be dead long before you read this, but I want you to know it was I who discovered your secret. I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can. I face death in the hope that when you meet your match, you will be mortal once more. R.A.B._ "

Staring down at the piece of paper he determined it was to his satisfaction and folded it so that it would fit into the small space inside the locket before closing it.

Brushing his thumb over the embodied letter, he made sure it was closed properly before putting it into his pocket and rising to his feet.

If he was going to do this, now was as good of a time as any and he could only hope Kreacher would find a way to destroy the real one.

He spared one last glance around his bedroom before he closed the door and turned around; eyes falling on the door across of his own.

He wasn't sure what made him cross the hallway to his brother's old room, but carefully opened the door and made his way inside for the first time in years.

The banners of Gryffindor house leaped out to him despite the layers of dust and he had to swallow back a faint smile at the daring posters of bikini-clad Muggle girls and a Muggle vehicle attached to the wall as he remembered very well how livid their parents had been upon discovering them.

Letting his eyes sweep over his brother's room, it occurred to him that Sirius had been right after all and he was saddened to know his brother would never know he had realised that.

His eyes caught on the photo hanging just above the night-stand beside the bed and he made his way over to have a closer look at the four boys displayed on it.

All four were laughing and it stung him to know one of them was a traitor to his brother's trust; something his brother would never see coming from someone he trusted.

Letting his eyes linger on his brother's teenage image, he realised that if he was going to do this, it might be wise to alert someone of what he had discovered so that in case he failed, there would be someone to take over what he had set out to do.

And who better than his own brother; the one person he knew with absolute certainty would not be on the Dark Lord's side.

If anyone could be trusted with this information, it would be Sirius, and Regulus immediately decided he would stop by his brother's house before setting out to exchange the lockets and hopefully set the path to destroy the Dark Lord.

He wasn't sure how he was going to convince his brother to listen to him, but that was something he could think of when he was there.

Leaving the bedroom; he lingered a brief moment longer to have a good look around his childhood house, willing himself to commit it to memory one last time before he left.

It wasn't difficult to find his brother's whereabouts after using a few locator spells and he Apparated to the familiar magical signature; only to be tossed back upon arrival.

Landing in a painful heap in the grass was a huge blow to his dignity as he really should have expected his brother to have wards in place to repel unwanted visitors.

Biting back a curse, he rolled over with a groan; simply kneeling in the unkempt grass for a moment to clear the ringing in his ears.

"Why are you here," despite the time that had passed, the voice was still familiar in its sharpness and he raised his hands to show his brother he was unarmed.

"I need to talk to you."

"What could you possibly have to say that I would want to hear?"

"The Dark Lord...he needs to be stopped and I have information that might make that possible." Regulus swallowed as he slowly rose to his feet a little unbalanced as he didn't dare to lower his hands when there was a wand firmly trained on him. Turning fully he laid eyes on his brother for the first time in over two years.

Sirius looked healthier than he ever had in the time they had lived together; a slight tan on the exposed parts of a body that was no longer scrawny yet still slender underneath the Muggle clothes.

"Why are you coming to me with this?" Sirius asked warily, though Regulus could not really blame his apprehension as his brother remained safely inside his wards; not after all that had happened between them and he truthfully would have been worried about the man's sanity if he hadn't been.

"Because you are the only person in the world who I know I can trust to not defer to either him or Dumbledore. Who will do the right thing to stop this war," he admitted. "I know we have never seen eye to eye, but you were right about him. I just didn't see it before now."

"Why did you change your mind now? Why after all this time?"

"I have been having my doubts for a while now," sighing, Regulus knew he would have to be honest and more specific if he were to even remotely gain Sirius' trust. "I have always believed that we are better than Half-Bloods and Muggles, but the length the Dark Lord goes through to take them out, it is horrid and inhuman."

"You have always known he kills people," Sirius raised an eyebrow, thankfully not pointing out that he had warned Regulus of the Dark Lord's actions long before he ever joined him.

"I did, but I didn't realise what that meant, not truly," swallowing Regulus clenched his hands into fists. "He tortures people before murdering them, Sirius."

"You have never cared about that before, why now?"

"No one deserves to be tortured," he couldn't manage to look up in Sirius' eyes as his stomach clenched, staring down at the door behind his brother instead as he remembered the countless times over the years he had witnessed his parents hurting Sirius; not once having made an attempt to try and stop them from torturing his brother and had instead walked away so the screams would not distract him from whatever he had been doing at the time.

But he did not ask for forgiveness, knowing he wouldn't deserve it even if his brother would have been willing to give it. Not when he had walked away whenever the Dark Lord or Bellatrix had gotten their hands on a new victim, the resulting screams reminding him uncomfortably of his brother but not being brave enough to put a stop to it and leaving the victims to their fates.

"That still doesn't explain why you came to me," Sirius gave no indication of having heard the underlying sorrow Regulus now felt at his inactions of the past.

"He made a Horcrux," he knew his brother would know what they were and was not disappointed as Sirius took a sharp breath, though his wand did not waver from where it was still pointed at Regulus' heart.

The lingering wand would have worried Regulus if he had not known he would have been dead already if his brother had not been willing to listen.

"I know where it is and I will destroy it, but I don't want to leave without informing someone I can fully trust in case I fail."

"Why would you fail?" the lack of emotion in his brother's voice hurt Regulus more than he had thought it would.

"Because it will be dangerous to retrieve it."

"How did you find it in the first place?"

"The Dark Lord made Bella, Lucius and me stay behind after a meeting some weeks ago. He requested a House-elf from me and I loaned him Kreacher. He used him to activate the protections placed upon the Horcrux before he left him for dead and Kreacher just barely managed to escape alive and return to me."

"What kind of protections? And how do you plan to get past them?"

As he told him the whole story, Regulus found himself wondering if his brother would care once he was gone. If he would try to avenge his death like he would one of his friends, or if he had truly lost all compassion the other could have ever held for him years ago already.

"I plan to drink the poison in the basin and have Kreacher destroy the Horcrux," he finished.

"Clearly this metanoia of yours has not given you any more brain capacity than what little you originally possessed," Sirius scoffed and finally his wand lowered as his brother seemed to determine he would not try to attack him. "A suicide mission is all you can think of?"

"There is no other way," trying to hold onto his temper at the obvious disdain in his brother's voice, he knew now was not the time to care about his own ego. Not if he wanted to get Sirius to listen to him before he set out to complete the mission he had set out for himself.

"Isn't there? I can think of at least three different ways right this instance, none of them including your death," Sirius snapped. "Wait here."

"What?" Regulus stared rather dumbfounded as Sirius quite abruptly turned around and entered his house, rummaging through the kitchen cupboards for a moment before filling a bottle of water at the faucet and grabbing something from a little side table, putting both items into a messenger bag.

"I want to know all about what he said during that meeting and after that we are going to that cave so I can show you just how much of an idiot you truly are," pulling the bag over his head so that there was no chance he'd dislodge it, Sirius' voice held enough authority to it that Regulus automatically began to speak.

"He just spoke about who were targets and how important it is to locate the Pot..."

"I don't care about the actual meeting, I want to know what he said to those of you who had to stay behind," Sirius cut him off.

Thoroughly wrong-footed now, Regulus shrugged. "I don't know, he took all of us aside separately."

"Did he request a House-elf from them? Or did he give them anything? Did you notice anything different about them when they left again?" Sirius' tone of voice was seriously enough that Regulus found himself automatically pulling the memory out of his mind, letting it swirl between them.

It was not quite as effective as using a Pensieve, but he didn't think Sirius would trust him enough to dive into a memory with him when he wouldn't even come from behind the wards of his house.

Letting events play before their eyes, he tried to see anything that stood out but couldn't detect anything as first Lucius and then Bellatrix left before he was called in.

"Both of their pockets were bulkier than they were before they entered his chamber," Sirius pointed out, using his wand to enlarge the images and freeze them. "It looks like a book, but I can't see what the item is Bellatrix is carrying beyond that it is round and quite large."

He stared at the image for a moment longer before a sweep from his wand had the memory locked into a phial and he formed a Patronus. "Want to bet that he made more than one of those things and gave them to your associates for safe-keeping?"

Ignoring the implications of that for the moment as they were too horrific to even consider, Regulus stepped forward to intercept him, wincing as the wards stopped him once more. "What are you doing?"

"Informing James of what you told me," Sirius' wand had risen slightly as he came closer, a beautiful dog Patronus hovering before him protectively. "Did you really think I would just follow you without letting him know about what was going on?"

"You can't trust Potter," the words escaped before he had thought through how they would come across to the one person who trusted Potter above anyone else and couldn't blame the sceptical gaze directed at him.

"There is no one in the universe whom I trust more."

"Your friends are not all they claim to be. I...there is a traitor among your midst."

"We are aware," Sirius readily admitted. "But James is not a traitor."

"Pettigrew is."

"What makes you think that?"

Regulus was momentarily surprised his brother was still listening when he himself was fairly sure he would have brushed him off the moment his friends were insulted like that, had their roles been reversed. But then he remembered that for all of his supposed temper, Sirius was in fact the most composed Black of them all and was always willing to listen to reason when it was presented to him plainly. It was why he had known he had to alert his brother to what he was planning to do.

"Although the others know him by another name, I know his real identity."

"And why is that when I doubt you are important enough in his inner circle to be entrusted with such information?"

Half of him wanted to curse Sirius for the insensitive comment; but the other half was aware of the truth in the words so he bit back his initial response and took a deep breath.

As much as he had never gotten along well with his brother, he hated that he would be the one to break his heart now as it was well known how much Sirius cared for his friends.

"They call him Wormtail."

A flash of sharp pain crossed Sirius' handsome features before he could close his expression off to leave blankness in place that, although utterly familiar, felt wrong to see on his brother. "And why are you so sure that is Peter?"

"Because that is what your friends and you called him, back at Hogwarts," though he was aware someone else could have taken over the nickname to spread unease among the well known and tight group.

"Show me."

Cold and intensive grey eyes met his, pushing into his mind; but he did not stop his brother and instead opened up the memories he had of the masked and robed person standing near the Dark Lord during various meetings of the past year.

Taking a sharp breath as his brother abruptly pulled back, Regulus needed a moment to force the memories back to where they belonged in his mind while Sirius pulled the sliver of memories now his own out of his temple to feed them to the Patronus before him.

Sirius did not speak as he stared down at his Patronus, his expression still unreadable and Regulus wished he knew his brother well enough to know what was happening in that usually so brilliant mind. "I will tell James to take Peter into custody."

"You still trust Potter, despite being told one of your closest friends is a traitor?" Regulus asked incredulously.

"Yes," the absolute certainty in Sirius' voice annoyed Regulus as he wondered if his brother had learned anything from this new knowledge.

"You were willing to listen to me about Pettigrew, but you refuse to doubt Potter?"

"There is no reason for doubt there."

Anger rose in Regulus at the dismissal, though if he was completely honest with himself, he would have to admit that he didn't believe Potter would ever betray Sirius in any way, even if the guy wasn't one of the most integer people he had ever seen.

Not when the guy had taken Sirius in so thoroughly after his brother had run away; had given him both the home and the family he knew his brother had never had at Grimmauld Place but had always yearned for.

If there was anyone Sirius would be able to trust, it probably would indeed be Potter.

"Are you willing to risk everything by informing him?"

Sirius sent his Patronus off before Regulus could say more and as the bright silver dog disappeared from view, the area suddenly turned a lot darker again.

"A world in which I would not be able to trust James, would not be worth living in."

Cold sweat ran down Regulus' spine at the implications behind those words and he dared not imagine what they might mean.

"What about the werewolf?"

"Don't bother telling me Remus is a traitor as well, he is not."

"Pettigrew is."

"Remus is not Peter," Sirius shook his head.

"Would you trust a Half-Breed with your life?" Regulus bit out.

"Contrary to the people the Blacks surround themselves with, I don't make it a habit to surround myself with backstabbers and traitors," Sirius shot back. "I trust Remus with James' life."

Regulus fought to reel in his automatic anger and repulsive disgust at the knowledge that his brother put that much faith into someone less than human; well aware that Potter's safety was more important to him than his own.

"He is a..."

"What he is or isn't is none of your business, call that blasted elf so we can get this over with," the clear dismissal of the subject annoyed Regulus, but he knew it was not worth starting an argument over it; especially when he knew the other would not listen to him.

"Kreacher!"

"Master Regu..." the small elf cut himself off as he noticed Sirius beside him, though it did not escape Regulus' notice the elf had been pushed back from the wards as well. "What is..."

"Do keep your mouth shut when your opinion is not asked," Sirius snapped. "As much as it pains me to having to admit it, I am still legally a son of the House of Black and therefore you will have to obey any order I give you without fail. If I had any other choice, I would not use you, but unfortunately you are the only one who knows the exact location of where we are going."

"And you will not speak to anyone about today's events or even having seen Sirius," Regulus didn't like how his brother spoke to his trusted servant, but couldn't fault him as he knew he had every reason to hate the elf as much as he did. "Bring us to the cave the Dark Lord took you to."

"But Apparate us safely onto the inner island instead of outside the cave," Sirius' words startled Regulus, not having thought of that possibility. And it was possible or Kreacher wouldn't have been able to Disapparate from the small island either.

Kreacher's gaze was full of hatred and disgust, but he obeyed without a comment as he placed his hand on Regulus' knee.

Reaching out to place a hand on Sirius' arm, Regulus silently cursed his own thoughtlessness as his brother immediately tensed back regardless of the wards still being between them to protect him.

He of all people should have known Sirius would not respond kindly to unfamiliar touch, at least not by a Black.

But he did not bother with an apology he knew his brother would not care for and offered his arm instead, waiting with bated breath as Sirius hesitated before stepping out of the protection of the wards to place a hand on his biceps; loose enough that he could immediately pull back should it be needed.

The distrust was painful, but Regulus didn't comment on it and at his order Kreacher side-Apparated them directly onto the island he had described to Regulus only weeks before.

The sight before his eyes was rather eerie, the small island seemed to glow with a misty greenish light and the hairs on Regulus' arms rose at the feel of dark magic all around them.

"Lumos," Sirius' small conjured light did little to penetrate the velvety blanket of heavy darkness all around them, though it did provide them with a little more light beyond the greenish one coming from the basis behind them.

A second conjured light travelled over the still lake, Regulus' heart hammering in his throat as he could just make out the shapes of the Inferi floating in the water, but the light was small enough that it did not attract their attention.

He wondered if that was why Sirius hadn't made their current source of light any bigger.

"The Horcrux is on the bottom of the basin, I gathered from what the Dark Lord made Kreacher do, that we need to drink the potion to be able to take it out," Regulus informed his brother as Sirius walked up to the basin to look at the potion in it before conjuring a large cup.

He had no trouble pushing it through the potion and filled it to the brim, the potion disappearing the moment he turned the cup around; confirming Regulus' belief that it had to be drunk as the liquid refilled itself in the basin itself.

"One of us will need to drink it."

"We will see," Sirius calmly refilled the cup and held it up so he could study the potion inside. "So that is how it is."

Watching in confusion as Sirius pulled out a small statue of a bear from his bag and animated it; he only barely managed to remain quiet as his brother promptly fed the potion to the now animated statue.

Humming approvingly as the basin did not refill itself as the potion went down the stone throat, Sirius refilled the cup and repeated his action.

"How did you know that would work?" Regulus finally managed to bring out after several cups had been downed.

"Your master has the habit of underestimating people and believing himself to be the most clever of all," Sirius fed the animated bear more potion and momentarily Regulus wondered why the animal was not writhing in pain, as Kreacher had described the potion to be beyond painful, before he realised it was an animated statue and could not feel pain.

The ingeniousness of the simple act made Regulus see what his brother had meant about him being an idiot as he would have drunk the potion himself.

"But what if it had not worked? And you would have had to drink it after all?" He still couldn't help but ask, wanting to know what his brother would have had for a back-up plan.

"I could have brewed an antidote to this potion to annul the effects, tried a real animal under a numbing potion or transfiguring a snail into a human before even thinking of drinking it myself," Sirius answered. "But I recognise the Drink of Despair and knew my first option would work fine as although it must be drunk to vanish, it does not necessarily have to be a human throat it is drunken by. Kreacher is proof of that."

Sirius turned to him. "But just out of curiosity, say that you would have gone here without me and drank the potion yourself, how would you have proceeded from there?"

"I would have tried to get water from the lake as Kreacher said I cannot conjure any," Regulus admitted.

"You would have been pulled under by the Inferi long before you would have managed to recover enough to use magic."

"There is no other way, is there?" Shame washed over him as Sirius tossed the bottle of water to him, the simplicity of his solution painfully easy.

Because the Dark Lord had set it up so that no water could be conjured, but had clearly not taken into account that someone would fall back onto Muggle methods as they were far beneath the man and most wizards.

Where Regulus would have perished in his attempt to destroy the Horcrux, hoping Kreacher would be able to find a way to destroy it, Sirius calmly slipped on a glove before fishing the Locket out of the now nearly empty basin without ever having endangered either himself or anyone else.

"As I said before, you are an idiot," Sirius scoffed as he looked at the Locket closely while absently Vanishing the bear. "Now what to do about you."

"I should hope we are going to destroy it," Regulus wasn't sure what his brother was thinking now, they had come there specifically to destroy that thing after all.

"Yes, but do we destroy it now while we are fairly certain there are more than one of these, or do we wait and keep it hidden until we can determine if it might be possible to destroy all the ones he might have made by using this one?"

Regulus had forgotten his brother's earlier assessment that the Dark Lord had made more than one Horcrux, but knew it would just be like the cocky immortality obsessed monster to have made more of them to ensure his survival.

Icy coldness washed over him as he realised it would all have been for nothing if he had gone ahead without seeing Sirius out, as he had first planned. No one would have known the truth and he now blessed his own indecision to stop him from making such a grave error.

"We have to keep it hidden."

"Yes," Sirius wrapped the Locket into a conjured cloth and put it into his bag and Regulus suddenly remembered the twin locket he had in his pocket; pulling it out.

"Put this in the basin so he won't know it's missing should he decide to check on it," handing it over, he watched as Sirius raised an eyebrow before placing the locket into the basin which was slowly refilling with potion.

"Smart move," he acknowledged before turning to the lake. "Have him ready to Apparate us out again."

"What are you going to do?" Regulus asked as Sirius looked out over the Inferi filled lake.

"Undoing the terror done to them."

"Why, it are just Inferi," Regulus stayed well away from the lake as Sirius knelt down before it and studied the faces closest to him, not having any desire to suddenly be pulled down.

"Does that mean they should just be left in a cursed existence? Would you want your body to be cursed for all of eternity, being used to do someone else's bidding?"

The mere thought freaked Regulus out, but he didn't want to admit that to his brother. "It wouldn't be me any more. They are just puppets; dead bodies reanimated by dark magic."

"That's not entirely true, they are in pain."

"They...it are corpses, they can't feel pain," he wished his brother wouldn't stare at them so intently as they had no idea if they could sense living beings or not.

"The souls of these creatures are still trapped in their bodies, suffering as their bodies are cruelly denied the rest they deserve."

"What are you talking about?" dread filled him as Sirius rose to his feet again, his grey eyes glowing in the green misty light as he looked up to him.

"Can you not hear them?"

Turning to the lake, he stared out into the eerie darkness for a long moment, trying to hear what his brother was claiming to hear, but there was nothing beyond Kreacher's heavy breathing beside him.

"They are screaming," Sirius' whisper made him frown and he automatically stepped forward to get closer to his brother, the feeling of dread suddenly increasing as he caught a faint and low hum.

Cold sweat ran down his spine as the muted hum became recognisable as low wailing once he focused on it, coming from below the water.

"H-how..." he faintly wondered how his brother had managed to pick up on it so easily and watched horrified as Sirius stepped up right to the edge of the water.

He wanted to drag his brother away from the water where those things were, but found himself frozen in fear as Sirius raised his wand. "May you finally find your rest."

It took Regulus a moment to identify the bright light spreading through the cave as Fiendfyre; forming a wall of fire all around them but yet never breaking the surface as it vaporized the dormant Inferi.

He himself would have had no qualms about leaving the Inferi where they were, even knowing what he did now and he realised that was one of the greatest differences between them.

His brother had always been full of compassion for others; speaking up for those deemed less worthy while Regulus had never bothered to give any of them more than a disdained thought.

Even now, disgusted as he was with what the Dark Lord had done to Kreacher and was still doing to all those people, he would not have given those trapped souls more than a fleeting thought of disgust as they weren't important to him.

But his brother cared despite it being unlikely he had known a single one of these Inferi, he cared just because he felt they deserved being cared for.

An almost blinding light brought his attention back to where his brother was standing; the fire having died out, but the cave was now lightened up by bright white lights rising up all around Sirius, floating up from the now silent lake.

A warm feeling brushing against his awareness made his breathing stock, realising it were the trapped souls he was feeling and tears rose in his eyes.

Their overwhelming relief and gratitude towards his brother washed over him as Sirius reached out to cradle some of the smaller and brighter lights in silent comfort before magically lifting them up higher; finally allowing him to see the truth.

There was no difference between the souls of magical people and Muggles; how could there be when they all shone just as brightly as they surrounded his brother, the sight surreal yet beautiful.

He did not try to stop the tears from falling, the lights brightening as they caressed Sirius before slowly disappearing from sight, but the resulting near darkness no longer bothered him as he had finally opened his eyes.

"I'm sorry," he couldn't bring himself to regret whispering it out loud, not when it was so obvious now that his brother had always been right whereas Regulus had just been too enamoured with their parents' teachings to see the truth.

"About?" It felt wrong to see his brother in the eerie green light left from the basin after having seen him surrounded by so much pure light and Regulus wanted nothing more than to get him out of the darkness.

"Everything," he couldn't put into words just how much he regretted everything he had ever believed in; had ever done. "We have to stop him, stop all of them."

He knew how silly he sounded; especially considering that his brother had already been fighting against the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters for years, but Sirius didn't use it against him.

"I intend to do so," he looked down to his pocket and rested a hand on it, tapping it twice before turning to him. "We are done here."

"Are they truly gone?" Regulus glanced at the now empty lake. "Where did they go?"

"I hope they went on to find rest now that they are free."

"I...I am glad," Regulus admitted, wanted to reach out to his brother but didn't dare to do so when he knew his little enlightenment did not mean the other would suddenly forget all that had happened and would not react kindly.

So he simply held out his arm once more and a soft order later found them back where they had begun to find James Potter leaning against the wall beside the front door.

"And?" Sirius did not seem surprised to see him and willingly went with Potter as the man reached out for his hand; drawing him away from Regulus and into the safety of the wards he clearly had no trouble passing.

It stung that Potter could clearly enter the wards unchallenged, but as the man carefully checked his brother over for any sign of injury Regulus forcefully pushed away his long-time resentment of the other man.

"Peter confessed to everything. He was approached by Snape of all people and has been spying for them for a few months already," Potter sounded composed as always, though the way he held tightly onto Sirius' hand exposed just how shaken he was as the man trusted his friends as deeply as his brother did. "Why did you suddenly change sides?"

Mere hours ago, Regulus would have scoffed and sneered at the demanding tone directed at him, but now he forced his initial response back as the man deserved an answer.

Because even if Regulus resented the man, he knew Potter was by far Sirius' most important person and his brother would not take kindly to him picking a fight with him; he never had.

"The Dark Lord is wrong, Mum and Dad are wrong," he regretted directing the last part to Sirius when the other flinched at the mere mentioning of them.

"They are not his parents. They haven't deserved the right to call themselves that," Potter growled protectively; pulling Sirius against his side even as his brother reached up to rest a calming hand on Potter's biceps.

The sting was worse now as the two men across of him stood well within each other's personal space and where his brother had shied away from his touch, he did not have that problem with Potter as he leaned into his hold and although Regulus was aware that he had no right to feel jealous at their interaction, it still hurt to see Potter hold the trust he himself had never had.

"I thought Walburga and Orion could not do wrong in your eyes?"

"They always claimed that we are better than them, that we are superior," despite now knowing the truth of it all, he still found it difficult to go against everything his parents had ever taught him but managed to force himself to continue.

"They are no different from us at all. They bleed the same as we do; the same colour..." he trailed off embarrassed as Potter raised an eyebrow.

"It is not green, blue or black, no."

He wasn't quite sure why he was so surprised his brother understood when Sirius had grown up on the same stories he had.

"What?" Potter however clearly did not understand.

"It is what Walburga and Orion tried to convince us of, that Muggles and Half-Blood's blood was different from our own; tainted," Sirius softly answered. "They also said that the blood of werewolves and vampires was poisoned and green."

"It's not?" it was embarrassing to realise just how utterly naive, how stupid he had been to believe his parents' claims.

"Only goblins have a green blood, but they are some of the very few. Most creatures, magical or not, have normal red blood."

"I noticed that part," it was difficult to keep the images of broken bodies from entering his mind, but he managed. "The war, their actions...everything is so wrong. You were right and I was a fool...am a fool."

"That you are," his brother's readily agreement startled a huff of a laugh out of Regulus. "But at least you are realising that now and apparently doing something about that."

"I will do anything to put a stop to this...to him," it wasn't difficult to meet his brother's eyes this time. "Will you help me do so?"

"I thought we had already established that?" Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Perhaps you can visit Arcturus."

"Grandfather? What for?"

"To see where he stands in this war once and for all. The time has come for him to make a choice and if it is in our favour, his influence as the Head of the House of Black can stop most of the ones fighting for Riddle."

"Who is Riddle?"

"Your precious Dark Lord's real name," Potter said. "Tom Riddle."

"His birth name is Tom Gaunt," Regulus corrected. "He is the last descendant of the House of Gaunt, the oldest Pure-Blood family."

"Riddle is a Half-Blood."

"No he's not."

"The Gaunt line has been considered extinct since the early forties when the last son of the House died in Azkaban," Potter argued.

"That may be, but he descends from the daughter's line, I overheard him boasting that to Bella," he wasn't sure why he was arguing with Potter about his former master's ancestry.

"Merope Gaunt eloped with a Muggle named Riddle," Sirius cut into the argument and Regulus turned to him confused. "I thought Grandfather would have taught you all about the bloodlines?"

"Why would he do that?"

"It is your duty as the Heir to know all the so called important bloodlines as it would not do for you to not know who everyone is and accidentally speak to the wrong people."

"That didn't stop you from befriending Potter," Regulus couldn't stop himself from pointing out. "But regardless, I am not the Heir, you are."

"Orion disinherited me when I managed to get away for good."

It remained weird to hear Sirius refer to their parents by their given names, no matter how long he had done so, though Regulus had noted that their grandfather was still referred to by his relation.

But then their grandfather had not been involved in their upbringing and had actually chosen Sirius' side, confining their parents to Grimmauld Place after he discovered the way they had treated his brother; but it suddenly occurred to Regulus that Sirius might actually have no knowledge of any of that.

"Grandfather didn't disinherit you and made it quite clear that you were his heir regardless of where you were living."

"What?"

While his brother's obvious surprise was quite humoristic to see, now was not the time to play mind games. "He was enraged when he discovered what our pa- what Mother and Father had been doing to you and confined them to the family home while at the same time stripping them of their magic."

It was clear that this was all news to his brother. "It is what drove Father to an early death and Mother insane."

"Walburga has never been the slightest bit sane in the first place," Sirius snorted and as much as Regulus desired, he found he could not argue with that. "Why didn't he disinherit me?"

"I don't know, he made it quite clear to Mother and Father that you are his chosen heir and always will be. And since you are the Heir, I was never taught anything beyond the basic etiquette and rules. So I don't know why this Merope you mentioned so important."

"Merope was the last daughter of the House of Gaunt."

"Perhaps she was the aunt of the Dark Lord's mother?"

"Marvolo Gaunt only had two children; Morfin and Merope. Morfin died without children and Merope died during the birth of her first child in nineteen twenty-six."

"Then Marvolo must have had siblings that the Dark Lord descended from," Regulus' stomach plummeted when Sirius shook his head. "It can't be. Maybe he lied about what family he descended from and he is just the Pure-Blood descendant from a lesser family?"

"We researched his origins while we were trying to find a way to take him down," Potter explained. "Riddle hid his traces well, but we managed to discover that his name is actually Tom Marvolo Riddle. He is the last descendant of the House of Gaunt, yes, but not a Pure-Blood."

"I can't believe..." he wasn't entirely sure if it was worse to know the Pure-Bloods of old were bowing down to a Half-Blood or that the bastard had managed to deceive them all. He himself had allowed a Half-Blood to brand him a servant and more than ever did he want to burn the mark off his arm.

"Why haven't you ever brought that knowledge to the public?"

"Why? Those blood-thirsty maniacs wouldn't have believed us and the general public is too terrified to even call him by his chosen name," Potter scoffed hostile. "I wonder where your..."

"James, don't," Sirius' soft voice made Potter jerk sharply; hands clenching as he angrily rubbed a hand over his face, almost dislodging his glasses.

"I can't...how can I just forget how he simply stood by when those monsters...when they...I don't know how you can even look at him, let alone treat him so civilly, but I can't...I can't just happily get along with him, knowing..."

The sheer hatred and anger in his words acutely reminded Regulus that Potter had every reason to hate his guts so deeply, because as much as Potter was his brother's most important person, everyone knew the same was true in reverse no matter anyone else who came into their lives.

No matter what kind of family blood bond there was between Regulus and Sirius, it was Potter who was Sirius' true brother in every way it mattered and no matter how much Regulus might change, that was a certainty to remain.

And as he knew that there was no one in this world who loved Sirius as much as Potter did, Regulus resolved to no longer try and agonise the one person his brother had always been able to count on.

"I'm not asking you to become friends, but we are going to have to work together," Sirius reached up to brush away the tears that had appeared in Potter's eyes, unaware of Regulus' thoughts. "For the sake of the future; for your child's future, please try?"

The revelation of a child made Regulus wonder how long Potter's wife had been pregnant as he would have heard if he'd had a child, but found that it mattered not as Potter took a shuddering breath and reached up to squeeze Sirius' hand softly in agreement. "So, Arcturus. How can he stop those of his house who are fighting for Riddle?"

"He can renounce their status as members of the House of Black."

"It would mean they would not get any financial support from the House anymore, right?" Regulus tried to clarify, making Potter whistle.

"That would put a serious damper on Riddle's resources."

"Not just that, he can condemn them and force them to hold up their vow to the House," Sirius explained. "If he calls them to stop fighting and they don't, their magic will be bound."

"That would take more than half of his Death Eaters out of play," Regulus mentally tried to calculate how many of those in the Dark Lord's circle were considered part of the House of Black.

"It would take more than half of his followers and financiers out of play," Sirius corrected. "There are a lot of Pure-Bloods in his ranks who are related to the House of Black at least somewhere along the line."

"As well as Half-Bloods," Potter agreed. "If we can get Arcturus to make a stance, that is."

"I cannot be the one to talk to him," Regulus admitted. "He would never listen to me or believe I have changed my mind."

"Then I will go," Sirius decided, conjuring a Patronus again, sending it off.

"If the memories that you sent me are correct, then at least both Malfoy and Lestrange have a Horcrux," Potter noted. "If he does take our side, we could request that he confiscates the items into his possession and not have to try and find them."

"That would risk Riddle finding out what we are doing and have him hide possible others he has made," Sirius shook his head. "But chances are that they keep them safe in their vaults at Gringotts and we could request access there without telling him what we are looking for precisely."

"And as he is the Head of House, the Goblins would be honour-bound to keep our visit a secret from even the owners of the vaults," Regulus took a deep breath as Sirius' Patronus returned and disappeared.

"I have been granted an audience right away," Sirius turned to Regulus. "Are you coming with me?"

"Potter's not going with you?" Regulus hadn't even considered the two would split up.

"I'm going to scourge the Potter library and see if Dad knows something about the subject," Potter stated as if that should have been obvious from the start and perhaps it had been to them as Sirius gave no indication of being surprised by that course of action.

"Then I think it would be better if I return to Grimmauld Place to scourge the library there for any information on how to destroy them," Regulus admitted.

"That might be smart, cover as much ground as we can in as little as time as possible. See if you can find something about locating them as well."

"I will," Regulus promised, glancing down at his brother's bag. "Will you keep it hidden?"

"Of course. We will meet back up here again in six hours," at the clear dismissal, Regulus turned to Kreacher to give him the order to Apparate them back home.

"Regulus?"

"Yes?"

"Be careful."

"You, too," he was pleasantly surprised by the request, though Sirius did not turn around and they Disapparated in unison.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Special thanks and credit to my dear friend Kitty. Both for her beta-ing help and her idea of how to defeat Voldemort.

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"Remember, you are forbidden to speak to anyone about anything that happened here today and will not report to my mother about anything I do or who I have seen," he ordered Kreacher, who had spent the entire conversation staring at Sirius in utter disgust but had remained silent as ordered. "Take us home."

"Yes, Master," Kreacher bowed low, Side- Apparating them home; and taking one look at the articles covering his walls, Regulus gave into the desire he had felt for the last few weeks and tore them all down.

Even as the torn pieces of parchment fluttered down all around him and Kreacher looked up to him worriedly; he couldn't find it in himself to care and as much as he had never expected to see his room again, he found that he couldn't stay in it a moment longer either. "Go to your room and stay there until it is time. Come get me in six hours, I will most likely be in the library. And not a word to Mother."

He couldn't hear his mother's heavy footsteps, though he did not know if that was because she was still in her bedroom weeping after his father's untimely death or because she was asleep and as such took care to not let her hear him move around.

It wouldn't do for his mother to discover what he was doing, she was so deeply set in her ways that she would not understand why he had changed and perhaps even try to stop him, something he could not let happen.

Despite tearing through the library, he found no more than the mere basics of information on the subject in the time he had and could only hope his brother had had more luck as Kreacher came to get him.

Potter was leaning in almost the exact same spot as he had before, though Sirius didn't appear to have returned yet so he dismissed Kreacher before approaching.

Having learned from his previous visit, Regulus stopped far enough away that the wards would not actively try to stop him.

"Did you learn anything?"

"Nothing useful," Regulus admitted. "You?"

"Nothing," Potter answered. "But my father believed that destroying them beyond repair might work."

"That might work when destroying them one by one, but not when Sirius wants to destroy them all at once."

"If he has voiced that much then that means he already has a plan and is just looking for confirmation that it will work," the sheer confidence in Potter's words was just one more piece of confirmation that Regulus truly didn't know his brother very well; but he didn't comment as Potter suddenly straightened and glanced off to the side moments before Sirius Apparated inside the wards.

"How did it go?"

"I have been granted access to the vaults of both the Malfoys and the Lestranges," Sirius said. "Neither of you found anything, have you?"

"No, how did you know that?"

"One of the only books containing detailed information about Horcruxes is called 'Secrets of the Darkest Art', one I know is kept at Grimmauld Place. It is being kept in the study so you would not have found it in the library."

"A book that our parents wouldn't own," Potter admitted. "But why doesn't Arcturus have it?"

"He does, but ripped out several pages of magic even he deemed too dangerous."

"Including the Horcrux ones," Regulus realised. "How can you be certain that Father has not done the same thing?"

"Because I have read it as a child. Walburga made it her mission to make me see the so called beauty of dark magic and made me read everything she could think of."

"Right," it clearly hadn't worked but it did mean his brother had an idea of what to do. "And you remember how to destroy them?"

"I'm fairly sure, though it wouldn't hurt to have that book for confirmation."

"Then I will see to it that you'll get it. What else did Grandfather say?"

"Not much, he still wishes to remain neutral in the war; though he has given me full consent to move freely as his Heir," Sirius pulled a golden ring out of his pocket; though it took Regulus a moment to recognise it as his father's ring.

"Didn't Grandfather take that from Father after he disinherited him?"

"Apparently it should have been given to me when I turned twelve as I'm the Heir but Orion didn't. I have no interest in wearing it, but it will give us full access to anything we might want," he dropped the ring back into his pocket. "If we still wish to make it to Gringotts today, we should leave now."

"The longer we wait, the more chance there is that the Dark Lord might figure out what we are doing."

"I agree," Potter stepped out of the protective wards. "You are sure they won't alert either the Malfoys or Blacks of our visit?"

"They shouldn't," Sirius retrieved two cloaks from his house and handed one to Potter. "But I'll be sure to mention it, just in case. Make sure you put your hood up."

Understanding his brother's motive to hide exactly who they were from the wrong people, both Regulus and Potter followed Sirius' lead before they placed a hand on his outstretched arm.

Moments later they were standing in front of Gringotts and he followed as the other two strode through the entrance and along the marble hallway to a counter about halfway into the building.

Regulus had no idea why they skipped all the empty counters before the one they seemingly picked in mute unison, but did not mention it as they came to a stop and Sirius stepped forward.

But the words he spoke were not ones Regulus recognised, a string of guttural rattling noises that were rather rough on the ears, though the Goblin behind the counter immediately looked up and answer in kind as a smile crossed his lips.

"Well met, brother Sirius," he spoke in English, giving a small incline of the head in a clear display of respect, one met and returned by Sirius. "What brings you here today?"

"Official Heir business," Sirius reached into his pocket. "Lord Black has ordered me to inspect the vaults of those who are suspected of dishonouring the House."

"I did not think you cared about that," the Goblin raised an eyebrow as Sirius placed the Heir ring onto the counter.

"I would not Gornuk, if it weren't for a matter concerning my heart's family as well."

"Fortius Quo Fidelius," the Goblin nodded in agreement, eyes sliding to Potter momentarily before they returned to Sirius and he slid the ring back to him. "Which vaults would Heir Black like to investigate?"

"Lestrange and Malfoy," Sirius glanced down at the ring. "Aren't you supposed to check that thoroughly?"

"You are the most honourable wizard I know, you would not deceit me. Your companions?"

"You know my brother James," Potter spoke something in the same gibberish Sirius had, though whatever he said made the Goblin raise an eyebrow and Sirius shake his head fondly.

"I shall pretend you meant to tell me you hope gold shall flow freely and business shall flourish," the Goblin shook his head. "Your Gobbledegook is terrible as ever, brother James."

"Sorry, that's what I meant," Potter looked at Sirius. "What did I say?"

"Nothing I can repeat," Sirius laughed before sobering. "I don't know if you have ever met Regulus Black?"

Pitch black eyes met Regulus' and it suddenly occurred to him that the goblin was friends with his brother and that was why they had chosen him for their business.

"Good afternoon," he greeted the creature after a moment of silence, normally his parents had done all the talking when dealing with the goblins but did not think any of their interactions were something he should repeat.

"Yes, afternoon," the dark eyes turned away from him again to look at Sirius in question; who shrugged a little helplessly in return.

"We deal the hand we've been given, anything to protect our heart's treasure."

Regulus was not sure what the words meant, but they seemed to appease the goblin as he rose to his feet. "You know what you are looking for?"

"I have been given an indication," as his brother followed the Goblin without hesitation both Potter and Regulus followed and a cart ride later had them standing before a vault.

"Malfoy vault, I shall wait outside for you to finish," the Goblin opened the vault for them, stepped aside so they could pass.

"Thank you Gornuk," Sirius stepped into the vault.

"How will we recognise if it's here?" Potter softly asked once they were out of earshot from the Goblin.

"You should be able to recognise it the moment you see it."

"How?" raising an eyebrow as Potter simply began searching without further instructions, he turned to his brother.

"Look around if you see any books, we'll go from there," accepting the vague instructions, Regulus turned left; looking around the surprisingly empty vault. There were no layers upon layers of gold and relics as there were in the Black vault and he wondered if the Malfoys truly were as rich as Lucius had always claimed to be.

"Found it," Sirius' soft voice called out several minutes later; holding up a thin book with a cloth.

"A book like you thought it would be," moving to his brother's side, Regulus looked at it. "How can you be sure it is what we were looking for?"

"There is a strong darkness in it," Potter answered. "I can recognise Riddle's magical signature in it; though it's faint."

"How..."

"It's like in the cave; focus on the book and you might be able to sense it as well."

Following his brother's instructions, Regulus could indeed feel a faint pulse coming from the book.

"How could you recognise it so easily?"

"We are more attuned than you are," the only reason Regulus didn't bristle at Potter's words were because his tone wasn't condescending but simply matter-of-fact.

"Right, Lestrange vault?"

"Yes, we're searching for something large and round there. Might help narrow down the search," Sirius left the vault again and turned to the Goblin; one Regulus now knew was called Gornuk. "We've found what we were looking for here."

"May they burn for their deceit and theft. Would Heir Black wish for us to seize the vault?"

"Not yet," Sirius put the book into his bag. "I first need to finish gathering the evidence I have been set out to collect before acting. It would not do for them to run before we are ready."

"Very well, Gringotts shall wait for your word before seizing the vault from their control," Gornuk bowed slightly. "Shall we move to the next?"

Regulus' stomach turned as they travelled much deeper underground, the sense of being underground never having sat well with him, but he made no comment as they were once again admitted into the Lestrange Vault without a problem.

This vault was crammed from the floor to ceiling; silver armour, coins and potions scattered everywhere as the shelves were much too small to contain everything.

Seeing something that looked like skin, Regulus stepped forward for a better look, hitting a piece of gold in the progress.

Immediately it duplicated itself and a sharp burning pain rushed through his feet. "Merlin!"

Staggering back, he bit back several curses as the coin he had hit kept duplicating several times before coming to a stop and he saw Potter scramble back as well, but Sirius was standing in the middle of the vault and must have touched at least a few items, yet nothing multiplied at his touch and he looked at them confused.

"Probably set a Geminio and Flagrante curse on everything," Potted mused as he made sure to not come anywhere near anything in the vault.

"Then why doesn't anything react to him?"

"It's probably set against intruders," Sirius mused as he moved further into the vault to search for the Horcrux. "But they wouldn't want to be burned if they visited their own vault so made sure to allow themselves unchallenged access."

"And since you are the Heir to the family, you can enter untroubled as well," grumbling, Regulus rubbed his toe as he scanned the vault with his eyes only. "Up on that shelf in the very back is a round cup. It's both big and round enough to be what we're looking for."

He couldn't help but grumble a little more as his brother climbed a mountain of coins to be able to reach the shelf and removed the cup without a problem.

"This is it," he called as he wrapped the cup into a piece of cloth and put it into his bag before climbing down again. "I can't sense anything else, you James?"

"No," Potter moved forward enough to help Sirius over a pile of Knuts, being careful not to touch anything.

"Then we are done here, unless either of you has another idea?"

"No, let's regroup back at your house to determine our next step," Potter helped Sirius down and they both moved to Regulus again.

"We are done here, Gornuk," Sirius waited until the vault had been closed again. "I need not remind you how important it is to keep Lord Black's investigation to yourself for now?"

"A Head of House's business is not for us to discuss," Gornuk' dark eyes met Sirius'. "Nor is that of the Heir. May your investigation go well and your intent flourish."

"Thank you, Gornuk. If all goes well, you will see the result soon enough," the Goblin's words did not seem to alarm Sirius half as much as Regulus and he simply returned to the cart so they could return to the entrance.

They didn't speak as Sirius Apparated them back, inside the wards to Regulus' surprise but he didn't comment on it as Sirius and Potter made their way inside and his brother placed the items on his kitchen table.

"How do you plan to destroy them?" Regulus asked as he looked at the three displayed items.

"I'd like to have a look at Secrets of the Dark Arts to be sure, but I think a chain Fiendfyre would work well enough. And although it won't do anything to Riddle himself, it would have the added benefit that should he have hidden another Horcrux somewhere, it'll be destroyed as well."

"Then I will retrieve the book so that we can be sure," Regulus decided.

"We will get ready to destroy them when you have returned, then," Sirius agreed and with a short nod, Regulus made his way outside to Apparate back home.

It was just as he had found the book that a burning sensation in his left forearm took his breath away and he knew the Dark Lord was summoning him.

"Kreacher!"

Even as the trusty House-elf appeared, Regulus could hear his mother calling for him and he hurriedly pressed the book into his hands. "Bring this to Sirius and tell him to destroy them. I will be in the perfect position to take him out for good in ten minutes."

"Yes, Master," Kreacher disappeared with a loud crack and Regulus hurried to grab his robes, waving his mother off as she came out a side chamber.

"Sorry Mother, but I must go at once," not waiting for a reply, Regulus hurried outside and Apparated to the Dark Lord's summoning.

"You are late," Bellatrix snapped at him as he arrived and he glanced at her warily while fastening his mask.

"I was delayed by Mother," it wasn't unusual for his mother to complain any time he left, worried for him since his father's death and Bellatrix knew her well enough to only sniff in disdain but make no other comment as they made their way to their respective places in the circle.

While he had just been grateful to be a part of the Dark Lord's inner circle at all, he now wished he was just a little bit closer so it would've been easier to take the man out.

As the other masked people took their places around him, he forced his mind to clear as he knew the Dark Lord would be able to sense any hostile thought and bowed along with everyone else as he strode into the room.

"Someone has betrayed one of our own," as always, the Dark Lord's voice lured people in, though Regulus no longer felt the same pull he used to have and tried to squash down his revolt at knowing what the man truly was.

"My Lord?" as usual, it was only Bellatrix who was brave enough to speak up as the others cowered in fright and Regulus focused on taking even breaths to keep his heart rate normal.

"Mere hours ago, Wormtail was discovered and arrested by Auror Potter. Anyone care to tell me how that could be?" There was no mistaking the anger in his voice and involuntarily, Regulus flinched along with everyone else.

"Did the fool betray himself?" Snape drawled from Voldemort's left.

Regulus had envied his supposed friend for rising in the ranks so quickly in the mere year he'd been in the Dark Lord's service longer than he himself, but now he just felt disgust at ever having wanted to be like him.

"I do not believe that is the case. Someone sold him out," Voldemort's red eyes slid over them one by one, making them all duck lower. "You will..."

A horrific scream snapped Regulus' head up just in time to see the Dark Lord being engulfed in flames; fire bursting out of the man and spreading through the room with a roar that stopped his heart dead cold.

The faint familiarity of his brother's magical signature behind the magical flames immediately told him the Dark Lord must have had a Horcrux on him that Sirius' spell was now destroying, taking the man himself with it as Fiendfyre did not differentiate between human and object, burning everything in its path.

Masked people screamed, the fire vaporising them effortlessly and although he had been ready to sacrifice himself to take the Dark Lord out before; he still found himself running for the doors with Bellatrix.

"Expulso!" Bellatrix' shriek exploded the doors, annulling the magic keeping them closed and they scrambled away from the horrific screams behind them.

"Move!" she hissed as she shoved him to the side and as he stumbled to keep his balance his heart hammered in his throat as roaring flames burst through the corridor before them and although Bellatrix desperately raised a shield in protection, she was no match for the roaring flames as they surrounded her.

Closing his eyes so he wouldn't have to see her burn, her terrified screams pierced through him before they abruptly cut off and his last thoughts as the heat of the flames rushed towards him was that at least his brother had managed to destroy the Dark Lord and that was worth dying for.


	3. Chapter 3

"Did anyone Apparate away in time?" Potter took a deep breath, the scalding heat from the magical fire disappeared as Sirius managed to bring it under control and put it out.

The scorching wall of flames having welcomed them upon arrival enough to tell them no one would have managed to make it outside without magical help.

"No, there are wards in place to prevent Apparition," Sirius' voice was soft as he lowered his wand and they stared at the smouldering ruins of what had been an impressive manor. "And no elf Apparition aside from Kreacher either. None of them ever stood a chance. I killed everyone in there."

"I would say pest control is not murder, but I know you don't see it that way. You saved a lot of lives today, even if this was not your intention," Potter stepped up to his brother and pulled him into his side. "You didn't know this would happen."

"I cast this spell, fully aware there might be another Horcrux hidden somewhere that we missed."

"This is not your fault," Potter tightened his hold at hearing the self-loathing in his brother's voice.

"That is my magical signature," Sirius looked devastated by what his spell had done.

"None of them were innocent," Regulus tried to comfort his brother, stepping up to his other side. "Most of them killed a lot of people over the years."

"Does that mean they deserved to be burned alive?"

"Yes," Regulus didn't look away from his brother's haunted eyes as they turned to him in disbelief. "They did far worse to other people. At least they went out nearly immediately, vaporizing the moment the fire touched them while they tortured their victims for days before killing them."

"How many were inside," his brother ignored his attempted comfort as he turned back to the burned ruin.

"I don't know, about twenty-five, maybe thirty? He had summoned us all, but I am not sure all of them managed to make it on such short notice without causing suspicion."

"Was the circle full or were there empty spots?"

Regulus didn't ask how Potter knew about the usual set up but simply thought back to the meeting. "There was only one empty spot but I don't know who stands there."

"You don't recognise your own buddies?" to Regulus' surprise Potter closed his eyes and visibly restrained himself even before he himself could bristle at the words spoken. "Sorry, that was uncalled for. From your attire I assume everyone is always masked during the meetings?"

Looking down to see he was still wearing the dark robes of the Death Eaters, he tore them off as he wanted to have nothing to do with them any more. "He didn't want us to know each others' identities."

"Is there anything you can tell us about the missing member? Male or female?" Sirius asked.

"A male, small of posture but fairly overweight..."

"Standing next to Snape?"

"Yes, how..."

"You showed me your memories of the meetings including Peter. He's always standing on Snape's left side," his brother's words made Regulus realise he was right and the missing Death Eater perfectly matched both Pettigrew's height and weight. He momentarily wondered how Sirius had identified both so easily before he realised he knew both men well and would recognise their movements as easily as Regulus himself had always recognised Snape and Bellatrix despite the masks.

"Yes, he was the one missing."

"Good," something dark passed Sirius' expression and Regulus wondered if his sibling was relieved Pettigrew was in custody and hadn't been present to be burned alive.

From the way Potter's arm tightened around his brother's shoulders and they shared an unreadable look, he had the feeling both were rather relieved regardless of what they now knew about their old friend.

"You are sure it was a Horcrux we missed that caused this? It couldn't have been that the soul pieces were still connected to the main soul despite the separation?" Potter's words made Regulus turn to his brother as well.

"I think so. There is very little information on the subject in general but I think there would be protections in place to prevent the main soul from being destroyed when the Horcrux would be," Sirius squeezed Potter's biceps as he stepped out of his hold to have a closer look at the burned down building. "This leaves the question if he had it on him or it was hidden in the room. Was he carrying anything?"

"No."

"No special items? What about accessories? Or jewellery?" Potter inquired.

"Just his House Ring as always, nothing else. Why?"

"Just trying to determine if he was wearing the Horcrux on him. What House Ring?"

"From the House of Gaunt," Regulus said matter-of-factly before he remembered the Dark Lord was actually a Half-Blood. "At least he always said it was his Head of House ring, do you think he might've made a Horcrux out of it as well?"

"Who knows, it's possible," Potter shrugged. "Either way we know that the spell worked to destroy all the Horcruxes in existence as it was supposed to do. It just had the added benefit of taking him out in the process."

"We should warn the others, tell them what happened," Sirius raised his wand to do so, but Potter reached out to stop him.

"I'll do it," he softly squeezed his hand while conjuring a Patronus and sending it off. "Moody will likely be here in a few minutes. What is your plan?"

"I can't hide from this," Regulus straightened. "I won't hide from this. I made my choice and I will stand by it."

"There's a chance you'll be going to Azkaban," Potter warned. "Even after we tell him what you've done."

"If that is to be my fate, then so be it," clearing his throat, he looked away from Potter and his brother. "Perhaps Azkaban is safer than home right now."

"You could always get your own place," Sirius cocked his head as if hearing something before stepping to Regulus' side a split second before several people arrived by Apparition.

Immediately six wands were drawn at him, though they held their fire at the sight of Sirius beside him.

"He's with us," his brother calmly said and the wands slowly withdrew though the one in front, Alastor Moody, looked at him suspiciously.

"Are you sure?"

"He is with us," Potter backed Sirius up as he came to stand on his other side. "He is the one who told us about Peter."

"I see," Mood didn't look entirely convinced, though his wand was withdrawn and disappeared into his sleeve like the others. "You summoned us?"

"I need you to use an identification charm on these ruins to determine who was inside," Potter stepped aside to show them the still smouldering ruins.

"Why can't you do it yourself?" Regulus raised an eyebrow. "We didn't need them for that, do we?"

"Official procedure when Aurors have been involved in an incident. Seeing as both of them are Aurors, they aren't allowed to perform the spell and have it count," Meadowes informed him as she stepped forward to cast the charm.

"What happened here?"

"Fiendfyre," Sirius took a deep breath. "A few hours ago Regulus Black came to me with information regarding his former master, something that kept him from easily being defeated. We set out to find those items before I used Catenae Ignem Fiendfyre to destroy the dark magic protecting them."

"We didn't know there was another item we had missed," Potter glanced at Regulus in hesitation.

"I was summoned by the Dark Lord just before my brother set out to destroy these items and during the meeting with his inner circle, the Dark Lord suddenly burst into flames. Those same flames killed everyone else in the room except for me," deciding to keep the exact information about the Horcruxes quiet if the other two were, he shrugged.

"The...he burst into flames?" A man with long red hair whom Regulus didn't immediately recognise stared at him with wide eyes. "You- Know-Who...is dead?"

"As soon as Dorcas can confirm it we will know for sure, Edgar," Potter ran a hand through his hair.

"We already checked for Apparition traces; but for the investigation?"

"On it," the Prewett twins raised their wands in unison.

"How did you survive?" Moody grumbled as they waited for Meadowes to finish her casting.

"Sirius' absolutely terrifying last second timing," Regulus didn't think he would ever forget the sound of roaring flames coming at him and still couldn't quite believe he was still alive. "I had sent word to him that I would be in the perfect position to try and take him out for good while he destroyed those items. He...disagreed with my intentions and had Kreacher retrieve me immediately."

He would also never forget the sheer disbelief of hearing his brother's angry voice instead of feeling flames licking at his skin; the sound of the familiar voice enough to make him burst into tears as he realised he was still alive. But they didn't need to know that and luckily neither his brother nor Potter seemed interested in telling them, either.

"By the way, did I thank you for that, yet?"

"You are still an incredibly stupid idiot with the brain capacity of a Flobberworm," it were pretty much the same words his brother had said to him just after he'd been rescued and he couldn't help the small tug at his lips even as Sirius turned back to Moody. "We immediately travelled back here to ensure no one escaped, but by then the entire manor was already destroyed."

"Fiendfyre does that," there was a calculated expression on Moody's face as he looked at Sirius. "Those items, could there have been more of them?"

"I don't know, why?" Potter blinked as alarm flashed over Sirius' face.

"Did more places go up in flames?"

"Just one as far as I know," Moody scratched at his scarred chin. "Do a wide angled search for your magical signature just in case."

Regulus marvelled at the displayed teamwork as Potter, Sirius and the two Prewetts shot off an array of spells in different directions in unison without any communication between them.

"I received a report from Filius Flitwick about ten minutes before your own summoning that Hogwarts had been on fire," Moody revealed.

"I burned down Hogwarts?"

"Hogwarts is fine," Frank Longbottom answered in Moody's stead. "Alice, Marlene and Benji are still there to check out the specific damage but it isn't bad. The fire broke out on the seventh floor but no one was hurt. Filius was in his chambers when the fire broke out and was immediately able to respond."

"I could have killed hundreds of children," all colour drained from Sirius' face at the realisation but surprisingly it was one of the Prewett twins who reached out to him before Potter could so much as twitch and placed his hands on his shoulders so that he was forced to look up to him.

"You wouldn't have. From the first responder report Alice sent back we were able to learn the fire started at an empty wall behind which a secret room seemed to have been hidden. Neither Gryffindor nor Ravenclaw Tower were ever in danger as the castle immediately alerted the House-elves of the fire and they contained it with their magic until Filius could put it out. They had everything under control."

"The Come and Go room was the origin of the fire?" Potter had one hand rested on the small of Sirius' back but Prewett hadn't let go of Sirius yet either, something that surprised Regulus as he hadn't quite realised just how close his brother was to these people.

"You knew there was a hidden room there?"

"Yeah, Sirius' House-elves friends told him about it in our first year and we've been using it for years to train. They call it the Come and Go room," Potter answered.

"Peeves told me people often find it by accident or use it to hide things they don't want anyone to know about," Sirius added. "It could very well be possible he hid one of his items there some time in the past. Is the room salvageable Fab?"

"No idea yet, sorry. We only received the first report so far."

"I've got the list," Meadowes looked almost as pale as Sirius did as she turned to them with a long conjured list in her hands.

"What is it?" Moody moved to her side.

"Tom Marvolo Riddle...that's...Alastor..."

"So he truly is dead," Moody took a moment to compose himself. "After all this time, Merlin...Sirius, you really took him out."

Regulus watched a little uncomfortable as the entire group aside from Sirius and Potter burst into cheers and embraced each other and his brother.

He had known the war had caused a lot of misery, but somehow he had not quite realised how happy it would make people if the Dark Lord were to be taken out, yet most of the group displayed exactly how relieved they were.

"James and Regulus were very much a part of this," Sirius still looked rather shaken by the knowledge of what his spell had done, and although Regulus would have given anything to have seen his brother ruffled just once throughout their childhood, he now found himself wishing that sorrow away.

His brother should be celebrating like the others; not linger on the deaths that didn't happen. But as he remembered the souls Sirius had set free in that cave, he knew his brother wasn't the type to just brush that off.

"So you said," Moody turned to Regulus with narrowed eyes. "What made you defect?"

"Riddle is a psychopathic mass murderer who targets innocent people," there was a lot of things Regulus could have chosen to say, but those words seemed to be the simplest.

"We have known that for a long time," Longbottom snorted. "Why did you come to Sirius?"

"He is the only one I knew I could trust. I discovered Riddle's secret and was going to set out to destroy it, but then decided to entrust my brother with my new-found knowledge so that someone would be able to stop him if I were to fail," he hesitated briefly, not sure if he was giving too much information away but decided that in the end, his brother deserved the credit he was due. "It was he who realised Riddle had made more of those items and discovered where they were hidden."

"I assume those...items are extremely dark magic best forgotten, since none of you are mentioning them by name?"

"Forgotten and buried in the deepest layers of ancient magic to never surface again," Sirius confirmed without batting an eye, making Moody nod in surprising acceptance.

As none of the others made to inquire further, it occurred to Regulus that his brother had a lot of standing with these people and they trusted him completely.

"Very well, we will get what we can of the story later. For now I would like to know who else is on that list as it is much longer than I would have expected."

"There are a lot of names on here," Meadowes confirmed as she skimmed it. "Two that will surprise you."

"Who?"

"Augustus Rookwood and Bartemius Crouch Jr."

"What?!" Bones wasn't the only one looking surprised. "Could they have been there by mistake?"

"No, only those who carry the Dark Mark can be summoned," Regulus pushed up his sleeve to reveal the Dark Mark. "Only his inner circle was present today. Barty joined around the same time I did but was almost as fanatic a follower as Bellatrix."

"So there is no mistaking it," Moody cursed colourfully. "So that is how they knew where the Aurors would strike. Crouch Jr would have had unrestricted access to his father's papers and Rookwood would've been able to tell You-Know-Who about all the inner workings of the division. How could we have missed this?"

"Probably the same way we missed Peter was the traitor amongst us," Potter softly pointed out. "What is done is done. Who else is on that list?"

"Erm, the Carrow siblings, Antonin Dolohov, Avery and his son, all three Lestranges and Rodolphus' wife Bellatrix."

"No surprise there," Longbottom sniffed and Regulus couldn't blame him. All of those names were from dark families completely agreeing with Riddle and would readily follow him.

"Crabbe, Goyle, Nott and Rosier and his son."

"Also no surprise there," one of the Prewett brothers said as Meadowes slid down the parchment through her fingers to get to the other half.

"Igor Karkaroff, Mulciber and his son, Travers, Walden Macnair and Yaxley."

"None of those are a surprise so far as we suspected pretty much all of them," Moody blinked as Meadowes glared at him.

"Would you guys let me finish?" They all raised their hands in surrender at her biting glare. "Thank you. Pyrites, Jugson, Wilkes, Rowle, Snape and Malfoy. Thirty in total aside from You-Know-Who."

"I've never heard of Snape," she admitted as she rolled up the list and handed it over to Moody.

"You have, he's the slimy Slytherin git who went to Hogwarts at the same time Sirius and James did," the same Prewett who had comforted Sirius pointed out.

"The oily-haired guy with delusions of grandeur who kept sneaking after them like he was in their league?" A hint of recognition rose in her eyes.

"They called him Snivellus," Regulus helpfully added.

"Ah, I remember," she shuddered. "Not surprised to see he turned out to be a Death Eater, guy had all the markings of one."

"Do we have a way to track any of his other followers?" Sirius changed the subject.

"No idea, we will need to see what kind of information we can get from Pettigrew. Maybe..." Longbottom trailed off as four wands lit up briefly. "And?"

"There's a trace of your signature in the South of Wales, though it's faint and dormant," Fabian Prewett didn't sound worried though so Regulus figured he at least suspected what it was.

"That is probably Remus then as he's in the South," Sirius nodded. "Nothing unusual from my side."

"How do you know where he is?" Longbottom asked.

"Because I drew both tracking and protective runes on him some time ago."

"Dumbledore insists our missions are classified to protect ourselves from the spy, you went against his orders?" Moody raised an eyebrow as Sirius shot him an unimpressed look; making Regulus bite his lip to not burst into laughter at the classic defiance he was so familiar with seeing.

"Are you asking if I ensured there is a way to find someone I care deeply for, then yes, I did."

"Dumbledore insists..."

"He insists on a lot of things I don't agree with and voiced as much. Am I to just stand by and just pray the people I love don't end up like Mary MacDonald?"

"We don't know what happened to Mary," Meadowes frowned.

"Exactly. We don't know if she's dead or held prisoner somewhere, we don't know if she is being tortured, was killed or is just hiding really well. I refuse to even chance the possibility that I won't know what happened to the people I actually love so, yes, I put a tracking charm on Remus," Sirius glared at them. "I also put one on James, Lily, Mum, Dad and Peter. If Dumbledore has a problem with that, then that's his concern, not mine."

"You put one on me and my brother, too," Fabian Prewett pointed out. "I agree with Sirius, by the way. The whole secrecy thing is absurd and Gideon and I always tell each other where we are going regardless of the whole classified nonsense."

Moody made a sound like he couldn't believe they had the audaciousness to go against Dumbledore's orders, but Regulus wondered how they could have ever believed his brother would bow down to anyone.

All his life, Sirius had spoken up if he disagreed with something, never acting without questioning someone's actions if he believed them to be wrong. It was why he had known he could trust Sirius with his knowledge and his brother wouldn't just report everything he told him back to Dumbledore without investigating things himself and he was happy to see it indeed hadn't changed.

"You have been giving the spy free rein?" Meadowes glanced between them in disbelief.

"No, we just remain in contact regardless of our separate missions," Potter scoffed. "Sirius and I exchanged tracking runes in our third year already, so that if either of us was targeted or went missing we could always find each other. If you thought for even one moment that we wouldn't keep an eye out for the safety of our family regardless of anyone's wishes, then you clearly don't know us very well."

"But Dumbledore..."

"Is not the ruler of the world," Sirius crossed his arms. "He plays his cards much too closely to his chest for my liking and I don't agree with a lot of things he's asking of us. He might be the leader of the Order, but that does not mean we will blindly follow him like puppets on a string. If he had just laid his cards open and shared what he knows with us, we could've discovered the traitor much sooner."

"How?" Bones stared at the two with wide eyes.

"Occlumency," Potter simply said. "Or even Veritaserum. Not many have natural shields against either and those that do, like Sirius and me, would have nothing to hide if they are not the spy."

"Nothing except our family secrets," Gideon Prewett pointed out. "And those would naturally be shielded from intruders so not at risk when faced with a Legilimens."

"Legilimens are hard to find, though," Meadowes grumbled.

"Normally, yes. But the Order happens to have several among their midst. Sirius and James are both one as is Fabian and Dumbledore himself. Alice is as good as one and even I know a little bit of the skill," Longbottom admitted. "Sirius is right, there are a lot of actions Dumbledore could have taken to weed out the traitor without endangering us all the way he has."

The man shifted. "But that is not important right now, did you find anything with your spell, James?"

"Nothing I didn't expect to find," Potter informed them.

"I think it is safe to assume Hogwarts was the only place that lit up as there was a major feedback of his signature from there," Gideon Prewett concluded. "Unless you've set up an enormous after graduation prank?"

"No."

"We thought about it, but ultimately decided not to as there was already so much fear of the unknown going around and we didn't want to add to it by an untimely prank while we weren't present ourselves any more to keep an eye on it," Potter cheekily corrected Sirius' negative answer.

"We'll be discussing Dumbledore's actions and your own at a later time as I do admit you raise some solid points," Moody gruffly admitted. "But for now we should get a move on, question Pettigrew and try to get as many of his followers arrested before the news comes out of what happened here."

"What do we do with this guy?" Gideon Prewett indicated to Regulus and his heart clenched even as he straightened and held himself proudly.

He had said he wouldn't run from his actions and he had meant it, even if it would mean Azkaban.

Moody turned to Sirius. "The normal course of action is to arrest any followers of You-Know-Who and question them under Veritaserum before deciding if a trial is in order."

"You should question him, yes," steely grey eyes met his own before they surprisingly softened a little. "But I don't think it is necessary to arrest him as he came to us of his own free will."

"It is procedure."

"I surrender myself to Sirius' custody," Regulus spoke up. He was fairly sure Sirius would argue his case with the man, but didn't want to take the risk either way and his brother was his safest bet to receive a fair treatment.

"I accept his surrender and take responsibility for his detainment," Sirius stated.

"I second that," Potter and Fabian Prewett echoed, a glow of red light telling Regulus his surrender had been officially accepted and his magic had been bound to his brother until a trial was held for him.

"Very well, then let's go. Prewett, you two arrange for a trial for the man while Frank and I go question Pettigrew thoroughly. Bones, Meadowes, have a team stand ready to be send out to arrest any name Pettigrew spills."

"Yes, Sir."

Moody turned to the ruins, drawing his wand. "I will seal this area off and return with a team later on to see what we can uncover of the remains later."

Everyone present got into position and Disapparated, leaving Regulus with Moody, Potter and Sirius.

"We're bringing you to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, where you will be questioned with Veritaserum and it will be determined if you need a trial or not," Potter calmly said. "If you have any objections to this, then you are out of luck as it's your only chance to prove your innocence and they will proceed anyway. You may have a representative present during the questioning, but I will kill you myself if you choose any of the Blacks."

"Charming," the threat was annoying, but he could understand it as he knew Potter wouldn't want any of the Black family near his brother and if he was very honest, then he would have to admit he was beginning to share that mindset. "Am I right to assume you don't count my brother as one of the Blacks?"

"No, Sirius is a Potter and always will be."

"Then I choose Sirius as my representative," he simply choose not to react to the threat. "I am in his custody anyway."

"Very well, anything you reveal during your questioning can and will be used against you in your trial and you have pretty much no right to silence. Do you understand these terms?"

"Why exactly do we keep reading people these rights when it's clear they don't have any regarding their questioning?" Sirius questioned, making Potter turn to Moody who shrugged.

"Procedure, get on with it."

Holding out his hands, he wasn't surprised it was Potter who took a hold of him instead of Sirius and did not fight the tight grip as Potter Apparated them to the Ministry.

Regulus did not remember what questions he was asked after being administered the antidote and both Potter and Fabian Prewett's faces were closed off so he couldn't read anything off of them either.

"It could take a few hours before a decision has been made," Prewett admitted. "Crouch complicated matters."

"How so?" It was only then that he noticed both Prewett and Potter looked a little worse for wear, their clothes ruffled. "What happened?"

"Crouch stormed into the room while we were questioning you, trying to attack Sirius. Apparently Edgar told him about his son's death and he lost it."

"Is Sirius all right?" Alarmed he shot up, noticing his brother was not in the room with them.

"He's fine, Crouch is no match for him on the worst of days," Potter ran a hand through his hair. "We restrained him even before Crouch could ever get a curse out. He is giving his report to Moody right now; I've taken the place as your representative while he is gone."

"Right," Regulus wasn't sure how he felt about that, but decided to give Potter the benefit of the doubt as the man had done his best to treat him neutrally since his brother's request. "So I am to remain in holding until a decision has been made?"

"Yes, you've been questioned quite thoroughly and Sirius used Legilimency to investigate some of the answers that were uncertain. You haven't killed anyone or participated in the torture; though you didn't try to stop it either."

"I am aware," it was something he would have to learn to live with and from Potter's knowing gaze; he knew it was as bad a punishment as any.

"Good, I think it is highly likely they will forego a trial and offer you a deal instead. I know Sirius will be pushing for it."

"He would, despite everything?" Regulus wasn't quite sure why the news surprised him so much as he knew Sirius wasn't cruel or unfair. But he also knew he had done nothing to deserve any effort for kindness from his older brother.

"Stupid, I know," Potter clearly believed he didn't deserve any kindness either. "But that's just Sirius. But you should know that even if you don't get thrown into jail, I will not let you anywhere near Sirius alone."

"I know, but I would like to try and make amends to Sirius for what happened in the past," he admitted honestly; the fierce protectiveness he had seen displayed in his brother also very clearly present in Potter.

"Maybe you truly do, maybe you don't. I don't know what your end game is nor do I trust you with my brother. I'm trying to give you a chance because Sirius asked me to, but don't expect any short-cuts from me."

"I wouldn't have expected anything different," he hesitated as he looked up to Potter leaning against the table across of him. "I should thank you, though."

"For?"

"I don't like you and I honestly don't think I ever will, but you were there for my brother when he was all alone and took him in when he had nowhere else to turn. You gave him the family he could never have in the Blacks and for that I wish to thank you."

"Making me remember how lost and alone Sirius has been all those years doesn't make me like you any more, you know?" But despite the roughness of the words there was a hint of wry amusement in Potter's voice as he gazed down upon him over the rim of his glasses.

"I know," Regulus acknowledged as he leaned back into his seat and a surprisingly comforting silence fell between them as they waited for Sirius to return.

He realised he would never manage to forge a bond with his brother like the one Potter shared with him, but knew that given the chance and enough time, they might at least get on somewhat friendly terms.

He moved out of his childhood house mere days after it was decided he would be facing magical restrictions instead of jail time, not able to bear being around his mother's poisoned heart.

It was difficult to ignore her shrieking or to not let her pull him into various arguments after she learned of his role in the Dark Lord's demise alongside Sirius but he managed as he packed his possessions with Kreacher's help.

Although it was a surprise to see Sirius and Potter waiting outside of Grimmauld Place, it was a sight that was more than welcome as it finally silenced his mother as she stared in disbelieving shock at their presence.

He wasn't quite sure how his brother had known he had decided to move out or how he managed to keep their mother silent, he was just relieved by it as it allowed them to Apparate away unchallenged.

He settled into one of the empty Black estates for the time being, his brother taking the time between arresting people and sitting through a couple dozen trials to help him settle into life without magic for the next few years.

Although it was difficult to get around without magic and old associates condemned him for his actions, his brother was a beacon of light throughout it all to help him through it, a never wavering source of strength supporting him to do the right thing.

And slowly but surely, his brother and his friends managed to change the world for the better in the years after the war; something in which Regulus tried to help his brother as much as possible, for he had seen the light this world could hold and wanted it to grow and blossom as much as possible.

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A/N: Only the Epilogue left now, thank you all for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

Merry Christmas!

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The garden was crowded and filled with much more noise than Regulus was normally strictly comfortable with, but he had grown used to the war zone that was his brother's house at any given time and the sheer chaos all around him somehow felt more like home to him than his own quiet apartment ever did.

So he only smiled as he momentarily caught his brother's gaze before the other was distracted by a bunch of rowdy pre-teens pulling him along for one of their schemes and instead made his way to Lily's side.

"Good afternoon."

"Hi there," she greeted him as kindly as ever while the others at the table murmured similar greetings. "Welcome to the madhouse."

"Is there ever any other kind here?" he chuckled as he took a seat beside her and picked a corn out of the basket and began stripping the husk off, setting the clean ear with the ones that had already been done.

"Occasionally," she laughed at his sceptical look. "It's true!"

"I'll see that when I believe it. There's always a racket going on around here whenever I come."

"Then perhaps you should come over more often than just holidays or weekends," turning to see James standing behind him, Regulus rolled his eyes.

"Like I don't see enough of you guys at work already."

"Are you sure you want to talk to me that way? I am your boss," James teased as he took a seat beside his wife.

"Sirius is technically still my boss and if I'm comfortable insulting him then I am most certainly comfortable insulting you," he shot back, though he supposed the lack of heat was easily noticeable as James only laughed as he picked up a corn as well to strip it.

"Why are we doing this by hand?"

"Because it gives us an excuse to stay out of the chaos for a little bit," Alice piped up from across the table. "It's a perfect arrangement; we ready the food and Sirius, Fabian and Pandora deal with the children."

"If I didn't know my brother then I'd be protesting that assessment," Regulus picked up another corn. "But as I do, it is indeed a perfect arrangement as it gives all of us some rest."

"I don't know where they get the energy, though," Gideon laughed. "I get tired just looking at those three and I'm sitting on my behind."

"Maybe that's the problem," James poked him in the side, making him squeak in protest. "You sit on your behind so much that you've lost any condition you ever had."

"You're one to talk; you sit behind your desk most of the day!"

"That's what you think. You really think you Aurors are the only ones submitted to Sirius' training regimen?"

"It is quite hilarious to see the Minister being manhandled out from behind his desk and made to tour the entire building," Alice chuckled at James' tragic declaration and Gideon stared at them incredulously.

"In the five years Sirius has been our boss, I have never seen him drill James around. How have I missed that?"

"Probably just your rotten luck; they tour the Ministry at least twice a day to check both security and to see how everyone's doing," tossing the last clean corn into the bucket, Regulus watched the others finish theirs.

"Still, I'd have loved to see it."

"Then you should pay more attention," James sighed theatrically. "Sirius says that if I am getting tired running after my son then I am clearly not moving around enough."

"He has a point," smiling at her husband's betrayed look, Lily magically cleaned the husks away as everyone was finished and Regulus automatically began to wash the corns with Gideon as the other conjured buckets of water.

"He is a terror," Frank complained as he joined in the washing. "Does he not know it's been peace for quite some time now?"

"You never know how long peace lasts," a new voice spoke up and they all turned to see Dorea and Charlus Potter standing behind them, seats immediately being pulled forth so the elderly couple could sit down. "Thank you."

"With a bit of luck it will still be a long time," Regulus hummed. "We've all been working really hard to change the way things go."

"And doing really well, no doubt about it," Charlus patted his shoulder and the kind gesture really shouldn't make Regulus feel ten feet tall anymore after all these years but still did and he couldn't help but smile. "But there are always people who disagree with the way things work and try to put a stop to it. Or have you forgotten the multiple Muggle attacks after Riddle's reign first fell?"

It brought an unpleasant feeling to Regulus' stomach and he automatically sought out the children to ensure they were all right, something they clearly were as the group was playing some Muggle ball game he didn't recognise.

"People simply cannot see how wrong they are sometimes," clicking her tongue annoyed, Alice ran a hand through her short hair as she picked up a roll of foil and began tearing pieces off. "But we caught them in the end and there haven't been any attacks for years now."

"That doesn't mean it is not wise to be prepared," taking a cleaned corn out to wrap it in a piece of foil, James sighed. "Sirius is right to ensure his Aurors are in top shape and the new recruits are doing really well from what I've seen."

"Nymphadora especially is really talented," picking up a piece of foil, Regulus began to wrap corns up as well.

"I know both Sirius and Alastor keep saying she'll do fine, but it's hard to believe when she is so utterly clumsy," glancing towards the playing children, Lily shook off as much of the water as she could+ laying the clean corms on the table together with Gideon so they could be wrapped by the rest.

"You're lucky; you don't have to deal with her on a daily basis."

"Did you forget that I taught her Potions for three years?" she teased her best friend. "Even Remus despaired on her Defence work and he usually has the patience of a saint."

"Where is he anyway?" Only now realising his brother's grumpy house-mate was missing from the bunch, Regulus looked around to see if he could spot him.

"He's inside working on his special barbecue sauce," James revealed. "He wouldn't let any of us help him, said it's a secret only he knows."

"That's a lie," Sirius' familiar voice made Regulus look up and smile to see his brother coming towards them with two kids hanging off of him.

"I know, but we let him believe Auntie Hope didn't teach it to us years ago," raising an eyebrow, James looked at the children. "Are you leaving your godfather in one piece?"

"Yes Dad," kicking his legs out happily from his position on Sirius' back, Harry grinned. "I wouldn't mind two Siri's though!"

"Please don't," his mother immediately said. "We're very happy with the one we've got and we don´t want him torn to pieces."

"Then can we keep him?" the petite blond tucked underneath Sirius' arm only curled into his side further as he dislodged his godson and sat down, the dark-haired boy immediately climbing onto the chair to sit squashed against his other side.

"We'll share him," Harry decided happily, making Regulus laugh as the two pre-teens shook hands.

"Don't I get a say in this?"

"No," they cheerfully informed him in unison.

"So I'm losing our brother to the two of you?" James pouted at his son.

"Yes!" Harry grinned as he cuddled closer to his godfather.

"We're losing our brother to your son."

"You may borrow him sometimes, since he is your and Uncle James' brother," Luna decided softly.

"But only sometimes, Uncle Reggie," Harry immediately added. "He is ours to keep."

"That is very nice of you both. Well, you heard your godchildren, you are stuck with them as we can only borrow you occasionally," he laughed as Sirius only returned the cuddles happily.

"I suppose I can live with that. Can I do anything to help with dinner?"

"No, the barbecue is fired up and the first meat is almost ready," Frank and Gideon had taken their usual place behind the magically enlarged barbecue and had placed several pieces of foil covered corns on it already.

"Neville, Fred and George are washing their hands with Pan and should be here any moment," Sirius informed them as he picked up a bottle of water and both children at his side obediently held out their hands to wash them as well.

The resulting racket was loud enough that Regulus felt unheard enough to lean closer to Lily. "How are she and her mother doing?"

"All things considering? They are doing better than expected after what happened," she matched his whispering tone, though from the way Sirius tactfully ensured both children were more than occupied by rough-housing with them, Regulus knew his brother had overheard his question.

"It's lucky Luna was here when the house blew up and didn't see what happened to her father," he whispered back.

"Luck had nothing to do with it, Xenophilius always was a stubborn idiot," she shook her head sadly. "We told him that horn wasn't what he thought it was and was dangerous. Luckily Pandora listened to Sirius when he told her to get themselves out of there when Xenophilius refused to listen and they were both here when the Erumpent horn exploded."

"Kid still lost her father, though. Have they found new housing yet or are they still staying here?"

"Still staying here, but Pan isn't really searching any more either. Sirius has offered for them to simply move in with them and she's accepted."

"And Lupin had no objections to that?" from what he knew about his brother's old friend the other was not a big fan of sharing his personal space with anyone but Sirius.

"He is only here about two months of the year so he really doesn't have any objections to her living here and this way he worries less as neither Sirius nor Pandora will be alone when Luna starts Hogwarts in two years."

"I'm still surprised, though. The man likes his privacy."

"He doesn't have a problem with Pandora, he just didn't want you anywhere near Sirius," she smiled wryly as she could see it suddenly became completely clear to him why the other man had always treated him with unhidden contempt.

But it had honestly slipped his mind that Lupin had just as much reason to hate him as James did when the other had begun to treat him much friendlier over time while Lupin had remained a stuck-up prick.

"You really didn't know?"

"Not really, I think I might have known subconsciously, but James has been treating me as a friend for years now."

"Remus is very good at holding grudges and remaining angry. He is the only one who didn't attend Peter's Kissing or went to see him for answers in the weeks after his arrest. But he is getting better around you; you are no longer that annoying Black prick and just Black now."

"I'm so relieved about that," Regulus said dryly, making her smile apologetically before he cleared his throat. "But I can't begrudge him his behaviour. At least he's been civil when Sirius is around."

"Because he knows Sirius won't appreciate it and would hex him," Charlus leaned in to join their conversation as James had joined Sirius and the two had taken Luna and Harry to look at the grilling being done; Neville having joined them to pester his father with questions. "I must admit that Dorea and I were not too happy about you hanging around our boy at first, but we've come to see that you are a good lad."

"Thanks," clearing his throat to try and take away the lump suddenly forming in his throat at the warmth in the man's voice, he focused his attention on his brother as the man hugged his godchildren close.

"Before I forget, I keep meaning to ask how Minerva is doing. I haven't spoken to her in a while," Dorea tactfully pulled the attention away from him and he smiled at her relieved.

"She's fine, much less busy now that Hogwarts is finally running smoothly again."

"I'd say it was the best decision she ever made to go with a fine-tooth comb through the entire staff and replace those who are useless at teaching. I know Remus is extremely happy to have Lily as a colleague and Filius mentioned more than once how happy he is that Binns has finally moved on and has been replaced by you."

"It is nice to be able to teach the new generations our history; to see their faces light up as they learn new things," Regulus smiled as he recalled his delightful students. "At least part-time as I quite love my job as an Auror as well and am happy Ted agreed to share the position with me. I will admit that I am curious to how Harry and Neville will do in class next year and look forward to teaching them."

"I can't believe it will only be a few more months before they will be eleven!" Lily exclaimed. "Where did the time go?"

"It went on," Gideon laughed and patted her shoulder. "They'll do fine, though. With everything Sirius and James are teaching them already I would not be surprised if you'd have two new pranksters on your back soon as they'd be bored with the material taught."

"The terror, especially since I just know they´ll team up with the twins," shuddering comically at the idea of another set like the Marauders, Regulus' attention began to drift back to his brother again when Dorea asked if anyone had heard anything from Dumbledore.

It was a question she had asked every year after the man's sudden retirement just after the war and the answer was usually no.

Not that Regulus minded as he had never liked the man and had been more than ready to lay it out to him when he had confronted Sirius with what they had done to take Riddle out.

He would never forget the satisfaction he had felt at seeing horror spread over the old fool's features when Sirius laid out the man's many mistakes before him and in just how many ways it could have gone wrong if they had all just mindlessly followed his guidance.

It had been enough to make the man take a good and deep look at himself and not long after he had retired and disappeared from the magical world.

At first the regular question had annoyed him as he couldn't understand why the woman would want to know where the old fool was after his manipulative actions had almost destroyed her children's lives, but he had eventually realised that she was only asking to make sure he was in no way meddling with anyone any more.

"He wrote Sirius a letter a while ago, apologising for his actions and short-sighted behaviour during the war. Actually admitted he had been wrong to hold everything so close to his chest and that he should have done more to save lives. That he should have stopped Peter the moment he realised he was the traitor and not let things play out to use him to lure the Death Eaters out," Lily admitted. "Sirius hasn't answered as far as I know but apparently Dumbledore has left the country altogether and has no intention of returning."

"Good," Dorea nodded. "Very good. Now that that's settled, what's keeping the food?"

"I'll go check," rising from his seat, Regulus made his way over to the barbecue. "There are hungry people wanting to be fed waiting at the table."

"That's good, because the food is just about done. If you can take the first plates to the table, I'll follow with the rest," Sirius handed him two plates with meat and together they made their way back to the table.

"I still find it very odd that we're holding a barbecue at Christmas," he confessed to his brother quietly.

"The kids enjoy it a lot and it's a lot easier than one person slaving away in the kitchen while everyone else sits around, especially with a group this big."

"That's true. I have to admit it is rather nice, though I am very relieved your garden is heated by both charms and fire pits as it is rather cold outside."

"Winter does that," having set their plates on the table to the cheers of the others, they turned to go collect the last few plates as the Weasley twins bounced up with their babysitting uncle, Lupin and Pandora, the two taking seats on the ground with Harry, Neville and Luna in front of what they'd clearly decided was Sirius' chair while the adults took various empty seats.

"Your little stalker bunch is at it again," Regulus pointed out amused as five pairs of eyes followed their movements back to the barbecue Frank and Gideon were just finishing at.

"Don't go pretending like you don't adore them all," his brother teased as he accepted the last plates from Gideon and all four of them made their way back to the table.

Dinner was almost as chaotic as the late afternoon had been but Regulus could honestly admit he had never felt more happy and content as he watched his brother's family...no, their family easily converse together, completely at peace, and was once more reminded that he truly had made the best decision he could have ever made back that day.


End file.
